Fire-escape



F. SEBESIAKOWICZ.

FIRE ESCAPE.

APPLICATION FILED MAY Il, |921. 1,392,660. Patented oet. 4, 1921,

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

F IG. 3. F'IG. 4.

I J 5 I l v l v zik 'ir "J5 ,LI/4 f `5 39 -J 11 v if] T r s r i e FELIKS SEBESTAKOWICZ, OF IVICKEESPORT, PENNSYLVANIA.

FIRE-ESCAPE.

Application filed May 11,

To all whom it may concern:

l tain new and useful Improvements in Fire- Escapes, of which the following is a specifi cation.

This invention relates to certain new and useful improvements in fire escapes The primary object of my inventionis to provide a fire escape permanently attached to a building whereby the occupants of the building may readily be brought to safety in case of fire or other accident.

A further object of my invention is to provide a fire escape that will be accessible at all times to the occupants of the building so that the same may be used in a highly simple and efhcient manner.

With the above general objects in view and others that will appear as the nature of the invention is lbetter understood the same consists in the novel form, combination and arrangement of parts hereinafter more fully described, shown in the accompanying drawings and claimed.

In the drawing, wherein like reference characters indicate corresponding parts throughout the several views.

Figure 1 is a front elevational view showing my improved re escape attached to a building and ready for use, also showing the carrier means in dotted line position,

Fig. 2 is a side elevational view of Fig. 1,

Fig. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary view of Fig. 2 showing the same partly in vertical section and partly broken away,

Fig. 4 is a. cross sectional view upon the line IV-IV of Fig. 3, with certain parts of the device omitted, showing the friction clutch means between the upright'tubular post and movable carrier member,

Fig. 5 is a sectional view on an enlarged scale upon the line V-V of Fig. 3, some of the parts being omitted, showing the detail construction of the clutch mechanism.

Fig. 6 is a sectional View on an enlarged scale upon the line VI-VI of Fig. 3, certain parts of the device being omitted, indicating the rigid connecting means between the carrier and post, and

Fig. 7 is a view partly in section and partly broken away of my preferred carrier and the closure means therefor.

Referring more in detail to the accom- Specification of Letters Patent.

` Patented Oct. 4, 1921.

1921. serial No. 468,471.

panying drawings, there is shown a fire escape including an upright tubular post member 1 supported adjacent a building 2 at its upper and lower ends by a bracket 3 and a base 4, respectively. The post 1 has a pair of forwardly projecting and inwardly converging flange members 5 and 6 integrally connected thereto. This construct-ion is best shown in Figs. 3 to 6 inclusive.` i

Positioned for movement 'upon the outside of the post 1 is an occupant carrier 7 having side doors 8 and 9. These doors are hingedly connected to the carrier by any suitable formV of hinge connections. Attached to each swinging door 8 and 9, there is shown a cable 10 supported upon a pulley 11 mounted upon the interior of the carrier, and weighted as at 12 to facilitate the automatic closing of the door members. Exteriorly attached to the rear wall of the casing 7 is a. tapered plate member 13 for sliding engagement between the inner walls of the flanges 5 and 6. This plate is provided to prevent movement of the carrier away from the flanges 5 and 6. Rigidly connected at one of its ends to the plate 13 is a cable 14 moving upon a pulley 15 carried by the upper end of the post 1. The opposite end of the cable 14 carries a counterweight 16 sliding within the post. In the rear wall of my carrier, I provide a out out portion 17 and rigidly connect to the inside of the carrier and adjacent the cut out portion 17, bracket members 18 and 19. Pivotally connected as at 2O to these brackets are a pair of curved horizontal arm members 21 and 22. The rear ends of these arms extend beyond the outside of the carrier 7 and engage between the opposite faces of the flanges 5 and 6. The forward ends of the arms are within the carrier and are connected to each other by a short cable 23 which is in turn connected to an upright lever 24 pivoted to the floor of the carrier as at 25 and carrying a foot treadle 26.

Clutch plates 27, 27 are permanently attached to the rear ends of the arm members 21 and 22 and frictionally engage the inner faces of the lianges 5 and 6 as often as force is applied to t-he foot treadle 26. To normally disengage the clutch plates from the flanges 5 and 6, I provide small coil springs 28, 28 connected to the interior of the carrier and to the arm members 21 and 22 at a point forwardly of their pivot 20. At' the upper and lower extremities of the rear Wall of the carrier 7 and at a point intermediate its sides thereof, I provide roller members 29 and 3() for frictionally engaging the ends of the flanges 5 and 6.

A U-shaped locking pin 3l is carried by the rear Wall of the carrier 7, its ends projecting through slots within the wall of the carrier and engaging notches 32, 32 of the flanges 5 and 6 for permanently locking the carrier at the upper extremity of its movement.

`The operation of my invention is as follows:

A person Wishing to escape from the upper floors of the building raises one of the windows thereof and moves one of the doors 8 or 9 into the position shown by the full and dotted lines in Fig. l. The doors while in the position shown provide platforms and a perso-n is supported thereon and walks into the carrier 7. AAs soon as the Weight of the person is removed from the platform, the same automatically closes. through the medium of the Weight 12. .By applying pressure upon the foot treadle 26,v the friction plates 27, 27 engage the faces of the flanges 5 and 6 and the locking pin 31 can then be removed. By varying the pressure upon the foot treadle, the carrier 7 will descend at any desirable speed. As soon as the carrier has reached the limit of its movement, the occupant steps therefrom and the carrier then ascends to its orifrinal position due to the counterwveight 16.

k1While there is herein shown and described the preferred embodiment of the present invention, it is nevertheless to be understood that minor changes may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of theinvention as claimed.

lVhatis claimed as new is:

A fire escape including` an upright tubu- K lar support, laterally projecting ianges upon said support, a carrier positioned for sliding' movement upon the edges of the said flanges, clutch means between the carrier and flanges includinga pair of arm members pivotally mounted Wit-hin the carrier, friction plates upon the rear ends of the arms engageable wit-h t'he inner faces of the said flange members, spring means for normally maintaining the clutch plates away from the Vflange members and manually controlled means Within the carrier for engaging the clutch plates with the said flanges.

ln testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two Witnesses.

FELIKS SEBESTAKOWICZ. litnesses :f

TRoFIL Somnsii, VALTER CLiNsnY. t 

